


This Old Place

by TheDinosaurNerd



Category: Adventure Time
Genre: AU, F/F, Shopping Malls, Sort Of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-16
Updated: 2018-04-24
Packaged: 2019-04-01 01:12:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 6,307
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13987257
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheDinosaurNerd/pseuds/TheDinosaurNerd
Summary: In the quiet society growing after the war, Marceline visits an abandoned mall on the suggestion of her friends. She meets someone.





	1. ingress

According to Finn and Jake, the old mall is “Totally creepy, but in like a rad way, dude.” After the war, malls had fallen out of use. Only the necessities of society remained open; apartments, general stores, stuff like that. Malls, amusement parks, and most anything recreational were closed down and left behind.

Marceline stands in the parking lot, looking up at the surprisingly well-kept façade of the old mall. Finn and Jake were right; it’s hella creepy. She pushes open the glass doors and walks inside. The main lobby is huge, lit from above by a massive skylight. In the center of the lobby is what used to be a fountain, out of service. The interior of the mall is still clean and in good condition. It hasn’t been too long since the war, and the place was built to withstand the elements.

Marceline walks down the long corridor, lined with shuttered and empty stores. It’s so quiet; Marceline spends most of her life surrounded by noise. It’s almost surreal to be in complete silence.

As she rounds a corner, Marceline notices the lights on in one of the stores down the way. As she gets closer, she sees that it’s some cheesy old candy store called the Candy Kingdom, complete with a neon sign showcasing colorful candy people. The sign is turned on, and Marceline could almost be fooled that the mall is still open.

There’s a girl with pink hair inside, walking around the room. It looks like she turned the lights on herself. Marceline makes the effort to say something before her staring turns creepy.

“Um, hello?”

The pink-haired girl whirls around. “Oh. Uh, hi. Hey.”

“… what are you doing here?”

The girl shrugs. “Just looking around. I used to work here. Before the war. I practically ran the Candy Kingdom myself.”

“Huh. That’s pretty cool.”

“Yeah, I guess.”

They stand there for a moment before Marceline speaks up again.

“So, uh, what’s your name?”

“I’m Bonnie. Bonnibel Bubblegum.”

 “I’m Marceline.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Marceline. By the way, what exactly are _you_ doing here?”

Marceline scratches her head. “Some of my friends said it would be cool to check out. I’m kinda into the whole abandoned-building thing, I guess.”’

Bonnie hums. “Interesting.”

Marceline shrugs. “Well, I guess I’ll get out of your hair, then. Have… fun, or whatever.” Marceline starts to walk away. She makes about halfway down the corridor before-

“Hey, wait!”

Marceline turns around. Bonnie is running up to her, waving.

“Do you want to, like, walk around or something? I’ve never really been able to show anyone this place before.”

Marceline smiles slightly. “Yeah, sure. Sounds like fun.”


	2. Wizard Bill's

“- and that place over there sold lemons. They only sold lemons. Lemons! Like, what the cabbage?”

“Man, you’re really sour about those lemons.”

“Yeah, I am! I flipping hate- wait, was that a joke?”

 Marceline smirks at her.

“Alright, okay. Hardy har. Seriously though, it was weird.”

“Sounds like it.”

Bonnie and Marceline are walking down the second floor of the mall. Marceline goes to lean on the railing overlooking the lobby below. Bonnie stands next to her, arms crossed. Marceline looks over to the other side, where one of the stores still has an intact sign.

“Woah, is that a music store?”

“Yeah. I never went in there a lot. Why?”

Marceline takes off running.

“Wait, Marceline!”

Bonnie groans and goes after her. She finds Marceline standing at the front of the music store, evidently called Wizard Bill’s Music Shop. She’s grinning wildly.

“Sick.”

“Geez, Marceline, you shouldn’t just take off like that. You a big music fan?”

“Yeah. I used to do concerts. I still have my bass.”

“Really? That’s pretty interesting.”

Marceline walks into the music shop. There’s a stack of speakers along the wall, and a number of guitars on a rack on the ceiling.

“Man. This place is pretty rad.” Marceline picks up a bass leaning against the wall.

“You gonna play something?”

Marceline strums a chord to test it.

_Daddy, why did you eat my fries_

_I bought them, and they were mine_

Bonnie raises an eyebrow.

_But you ate them_

_Yeah, you ate my fries_

_And I cried_

_But you didn’t see me cry_

“Sounds like somebody’s got some issues.”

“Yeah.”

_Daddy, do you even love me_

_Well I wish you’d show it_

_Cause I wouldn’t know it_

_What kind of dad eats his daughter’s fries_

_And doesn’t look her_ _in the eyes_

_Daddy, there were tears there_

_If you saw them, would you even care_

“Hoo boy, that’s art right there, that is. Based on a true story, no doubt.”

Marceline sighs dejectedly. “Yep.”

“Oh dirt balls, I was just kidding. You’re actually really worked up about this. I’m sorry. It was a good song.” Bonnie gives a short round of applause.

“Thanks, Bubblegum. You wanna go back down to the lobby?”

“Uh, yeah. Sure.”

* * *

 

The two sit on the edge of the fountain in the lobby.

“Well, Marceline, I should probably get going soon. I’ve got to back to my store.”

“Store?”

“Yeah, I run a general store. I’m usually pretty busy.”

“Huh. Bonnibel Bubblegum, leading the charge to rebuild society.”

“Yeah, I guess so. I doubt things will ever go back to the way they were, but it’s a start. Anyways, I’m gonna hit the road. We should talk again some time.”

“Yeah. Where’s your store?”

“It’s by the old Squeeze-E-Mart on Federal. You know where that is?”

“Yeah. I’ll stop by sometime, alright?”

“Sounds good, Marceline.”

Bonnibel gets up and walks to the entrance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are welcome.


	3. BMO Under Construction

A week passes before Marceline finds herself walking down Federal towards Bonnie’s general store. The street is really… shabby. That’s really how everything is nowadays. She walks past the old Squeeze-E-Mart, which is closed, and goes to the building next to it. It looks like it used to be an Army Surplus, but a wooden sign nailed above the door has the words ‘GENERAL StORE’ painted messily on it.

Marceline walks in the door. There’s a blonde-haired woman with an animal hat talking to Bonnibel.

“Well, Bonnibel, we’ve got a new shipment of rations coming in about a week. Besides that, there’s not much I can do in way of supplies until Cloud gets his new farm running. Sorry.”

“Ugh. Wonderful. Well, thanks for stopping bye, Minerva.”

Minerva was a scientist before the war. Thanks to her disposition towards helping people, she had been elected the de facto mayor of the town in the aftermath. Marceline mostly knew her through her son Finn.

Minerva turns to leave, noticing Marceline on her way out.

“Oh, hello, Marcy! Fancy seeing you here.”

“Hey, Minerva. Just dropping by to see Bonnibel. Say hi to Finn for me.”

“Of course.”

Minerva walks out the door and Marceline turns to Bonnibel.

“Hey, Bonnie.”

“Hi, Marceline! Glad you stopped by. I didn’t know you know Minerva.”

“Dude, she knows _everyone_.”

“Yeah, I guess so. Anyways, thanks for coming. It gets pretty boring around here sometimes.”

“I can imagine. So you, like, sell food and stuff?”

“Yeah, I hand out the rations we get from the higher-ups. I’ve also been trying to stockpile other supplies, like hunting gear and stuff. It’s a living. What about you? I can’t imagine there’s much work in the music industry nowadays.”

“I run a garden. I sell stuff to Cloud for his farm sometimes. Besides that, I mostly just take on odd jobs with my friends. Finn and Jake, they’re pretty cool.”

“That’s nifty. Hey, check this out.”

Bonnibel reaches under the desk and pulls out what looks to be a big, blue Gameboy.

“What the flip is that?”

“It’s a robot. An old associate of mine, Moe, gave it to me to finish before he conked out. He was trying to create an artificial intelligence capable of emotion.”

“Woah. That’s, like, deep.”

“Yeah. I’m hoping to make this the first big scientific breakthrough of the post-war era. Also, the first new video game.”

Marceline picks up the blue robot. The screen is turned off. The side of it reads ‘BMO’.

“Wow. You really think you’re gonna pull it off?”

“I hope so. Most of the framework is already there, I just have to finish it. Still, it’ll be a complicated process.”

“Why don’t you tell me about it?”

“You sure? This is pretty heavy science stuff. I don’t wanna get you all confuzzled.”

“Nah, man, it’s cool. You let me get all deep about music the other day, I might as well return the favor.”

“Alright. Well, Moe set up most of the framework for BMO’s emotional processors. The way they work is…”

Bonnie goes on to detail the programming behind BMO, which in total takes a few hours. Marceline manages to stay awake the whole time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are welcome.


	4. Marceline Made Me Write This

 

Marceline and Bonnibel are walking down an old concrete waterway in one of the empty parts of the city, each on either side of the thin stream running down the middle. The walls are lined with graffiti. Bonnibel turns to Marceline.

“So, you live alone?”

“Yeah, mostly.”

“Has it always been that way?”

“Nah. My mom took care of me after my dad split. And when she couldn’t, she’d send me to her friends’ house. Simon and Betty, they took care of me a lot. They were my best friends.”

“What happened to them?”

Marceline sighs. “That’s… not a story I’m ready to tell yet. Betty’s still around, though. I visit her sometimes. What about you? I don’t know anything about your family.”

“There’s not much to tell. I never knew my parents. I lived with my uncle, my aunt, and my cousin, and they ditched me here to go pursue real estate or something.”

“… wow. That’s messed up.”

“Yeah. I’ve gotten over it, but it messed me up back then.”

“Sheesh, this got depressing. Hey, how’s BMO coming along?”

“Oh, good! It’s a lot of work, but that’s what I do best. I think I might have it up and running pretty soon.”

“Nice! Hey, this looks good.”

Marceline walks up to an empty wall. “This is why I brought you here.” She pulls out a can of spray paint and holds it out to Bonnie.

“You want me to- no way.”

“Come on! It’ll be fun! Please?” She gives Bonnie a small, hopeful smile. Bonnie pauses for a moment before rolling her eyes.

“Ugh. Fine, but only cause you asked nicely.” She grabs the can, shakes it, and goes to work. Marceline closes her eyes, wanting it to be a surprise.

Bonnibel hands the can back to Marceline. She turns back to the wall and reads Bonnie’s message.

“’Marceline made me write this.’ Nice.”

“Well, it’s true. What were you expecting?”

“No, I’m serious. Thanks for playing along with this, man.”

“Yeah, well. We should head back now.

“Ok.”


	5. BMO

Bonnie is up at around midnight working on BMO when her phone goes off. It’s a message from Marceline.

vampirequeen- hey bonnie u up

princessbubblegum- I don’t sleep.

vampirequeen- u wanna hang out at the mall

princessbubblegum- I don’t see why not. Can I bring BMO? I think I’m close to a breakthrough.

vampirequeen- of course

It doesn’t take long for Bonnie to gather her things and set out. She had memorized the way to the mall a long time ago. She’s at the mall in less than 10 minutes. The moon is set directly above the skylight, lighting up the inside of the mall brightly. Marceline is sitting on the fountain, playing her bass.

“Hey, Marceline!”

“Oh, hey, Bonnie. How’s it goin?”

“Oh, it’s-“ she yawns- “going, I guess. This little guy is coming along well.” She holds up BMO.

“Sheesh, Bonnie, you look tired. How long’s it been since you slept?”

“Only 20 hours. I’m fine. Besides, you’re up this late too. You can’t-“ she yawns again- “criticize my sleeping patterns.”

“At least _I_ took a nap before I came out here.”

“Well, whatever. Anyways, check this out.” Bonnie pops off BMO’s front cover, then unscrews the circuit board. Underneath are a few wires and boxes, plus something that looks weirdly like a heart.

“This is the driver disc. It has a lot of BMO’s core operating components.” Bonnie holds up a small square device, almost like an SD card. She plugs it into a slot under the screen, which lights up.

“Woah. Is it finished?”

“No, not yet. There’s-“ yawn- “a lot of programming that needs to be done on BMO’s operating system.” She pulls up a coding interface on the screen. “You don’t mind if I work on this, right?”

“Of course not. I’ll give you some background music. Just, if you’re too tired, you should sleep.”

“I’ll be fine. Thanks, Marceline.”

Bonnie goes to work on BMO’s programming. Marceline plays her bass idly, making some small talk with her. Eventually, Bonnie puts BMO down and goes to sit next to Marceline, leaning on her shoulder.

“I’m crazy tired Marceline. I think I might just conk out here.”

“You want me to take you home?”

“Nah, that’s fine. Let’s just-“ yawn- “stay here. Have a sleepover.”

“Alright. That sounds fun. Bonnie?”

Bonnie is fast asleep. Marceline gently moves Bonnie off of her shoulder and onto the floor. She then goes to the entrance of the mall.

“I’ll be right back, Bonnie.”

Marceline exits the mall and makes the hike back to her house. She grabs a pair of blankets and pillows, a portable stove, a jug of water, two paper bowls, some plastic forks, and two packets of noodles. She throws them into a bag and carries it back to the mall. Marceline carefully puts one of the pillows under Bonnie’s head, before throwing a blanket over her. Marceline stays up for a little while longer, playing music, before she too settles in under the other blanket and falls asleep.

* * *

 

At first, when Bonnie wakes up, she doesn’t know where she is. Then she sees the deactivated BMO on the ground, and she remembers. She looks around for Marceline. Bonnie finds her, sitting by a portable stove.

“Morning, Marceline.”

“Oh, hey Bonnie. I’m just making us some breakfast.” She gestures to the stove, in which a block of noodles are boiling in water.

“Ramen for breakfast? Where did you even get that?”

"Simon built up a noodle stockpile during the early years of the war. So now, I just have a bunch of spare ramen.”

Bonnie sits down and grabs a bowl. Marceline shoves a fork into the stove and pulls out the noodles. She dumps them into Bonnie’s bowl.

“Enjoy your breakfast, m’lady,” she says, in a weird fancy accent. Bonnie giggles. Marceline opens the other pack of noodles and dumps it into the stove. Bonnie reaches across the floor and pulls BMO towards her.

“You gonna work on it some more?”

“Yeah. I’m really close, I think.” Bonnie removes the front casing and pulls up the programing interface.

Bonnie spends a few minutes working on the coding and tweaking the circuit board. Marceline eats her noodles. Eventually Bonnie’s eyes widen and she speaks up.

“Wait. Wait, hold on- oh my glob.”

“What?”

A face appears on BMO’s screen. Bonnie replaces the front casing.

“BMO? Can you hear me?”

The eyes open.

“Yes. Are you my grandpoop?”

“Nope. I'm just your poop.”

“I’m tired.” The eyes close again. Bonnie turns to Marceline.

“I think it’s gonna be a while before he wakes up again.”

“…wow.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“…wow.”

“He’s gonna need a home. Do you know anybody who could take care of him?”

“…”

“Marceline?”

“Oh. Yeah. I know a guy.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are welcome.


	6. Family

Marceline knocks on the door with BMO tucked under her arm. Somebody yells “Coming!” from inside the house, followed by a series of stumbling sounds. After a short moment, the door is opened by a teen in a white animal hat.

“Hey, Marceline.”

“Hey, Finn. How you doin?”

“Pretty great. Me and Jake helped some guy deal with some bandit dillweeds earlier. It was fun.”

“I still don’t know why your mom lets you do that,” Marceline says as she follows Finn inside.

“I think she's decided that she's more proud of me helping people so much than she is afraid of me getting all messed up."

“That sounds about right. Your mom’s rad, Finn. Anyways, I’d like you to meet someone.”

“Really?” Finn looks around. “Are they with you, or..."

Marceline holds up BMO and pokes his face. The robot opens his (?) eyes.

“Hello!”                                                                                       

Finn goes absolutely bug-eyed. “Woah! Mathematical. Is he alive?”

“Pretty much. This guy is going to need a home. His name is BMO.”

“My name is BMO!” the robot repeats.

“Hi, BMO! My name is Finn.”

“Are we friends, Finn?”

“We can be. I’ll introduce you to my other friend, Jake. I think he’s going to like you.”

The group move into another room, where Finn’s mom is getting ready to leave.

“Oh, hello again, Marceline! Who’s this little fellow?”

Minerva crouches down to face BMO.

“Wow, you are a fascinating little piece of tech.” She reaches over and pops off BMO’s front casing.

“My face!”

“Sorry. This is… amazing. A proper AI! And capable of emotion, no less! Marceline, where did you get this?”

“Well, Bonnibel has been working on him for a while. I guess she got him from some guy named Moe?”

“Ah, yes. He does remind me of one of Moseph Giovanni’s old works. He went by Moe back in the day. This is a great accomplishment, Marceline. Give Bonnie my compliments. Why did you bring him?”

“Well, BMO needs a home. I figured you guys would, y’know, welcome him with open arms or whatever.”

“Of course! It gets so lonely sometimes.” Minerva sighs and lowers her voice so Finn can’t hear. “I worry about him growing up without a proper family. Especially now that he's older. Jake’s been the only one there for him for so long.” She then picks up BMO.

“BMO, would you like to be a part of our family?”

“Yes!”

“It’s settled, then.” Minerva sets BMO back down. “Now, I’ve got to go. Finn, why don’t you show BMO around?”

Finn smiles cheerily and lifts BMO up onto his shoulder, heading out the back door to explore the wilderness. Marceline hears their laughs fade into the distance. Minerva turns back to Marceline.

“Marcy, thank you for coming. Really. Times are hard, nowadays. A new friend could do Finn some good. I’m sure Jake will like him, too. We’ll take good care of the robot.”

Marceline smiles.

“Now, I’ve really got to head out. I’ll see you around, yeah? You’re always welcome in my house.”

“I know. Thanks, Minerva.”

Minerva slips out the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments be welcome, arr.


	7. Betty

Marceline knocks on the door with a bundle of flowers in her hand. The door is opened by an aging lady with red hair.

“Hello, Marceline.”

“Hey, Betty.”

Marcy hugs her tightly, before presenting the flowers.

“I got you these on the way over.”

Betty takes the flowers and smiles.

“Oh, these are nice. Thank you, Marcy. Please, come in!”

Marceline follows Betty into the little house and sits down. Betty puts the flowers into a stray vase and sits down as well.

“So, how’ve things been going? We haven’t talked much lately.”

“Oh, good enough. I met this girl at one of the old malls.”

“Ooooh. What’s she like?”

“She’s smart. Really smart. She, like, built a robot. Did all the programming and stuff.”

Betty raises her eyebrows. “Wow. That’s pretty impressive. Simon and I did a little programming back in the day, but history was always more our thing.”

Marceline frowns, then smiles sadly. Mentions of Simon usually bring up conflicting emotions.

“Heh. What _didn’t_ you guys do back in the day?” She looks up at Betty’s bookshelf, full of books with titles like _Practical Methods for the Research of Mystical Items_ and _Mystic Rituals and their Space Time Applications_. When she was younger, she’d try to find a book on that shelf that was actually interesting. She’d read every title, looking for something that was at the very least fiction. And she didn’t really even like reading; it was just that Simon and Betty had nothing else interesting to do. They were always so academic. Thinking about it now brought  smile to her face.

“Marcy? Hellooo?”

Marceline blinks, snapping out of it. “Oh, sorry. What were you saying?”

* * *

 

Marceline turns to face Betty as she walks out the door.

“Thanks for having me over, Betty.”

“Yeah, thanks for coming! Oh- I wanted to give you something.” Betty rushes back inside the house to grab something, returning moments later with a book in her hands.

“Here’s a book on artificial intelligence and high-level programming. Make a good present for your friend, yeah?”

Marceline takes the tome and blows the dust off the cover. There’s a graphic showing some lines of code that she can’t really make any sense out of. It’s exactly the kind of thing Bonnie would love.

“Cool. Thanks, Betty. I’ll see you soon. Love you.”

* * *

 

Bonnie and Marceline are sitting by train tracks running through an old rusted-out industrial park. A web of side streets weave their way around old abandoned warehouses, and an old rubber factory sits decaying in the distance. Marceline is weirdly fond of this kind of place.

“So, why’d you want to bring me out here?” Bonnie asks.

“Well, first off, I wanted to give you this.” Marceline pulls out Betty’s old programming textbook.

“Woah! This looks like one of my old comprehensive study resources. I loved those things.”

“You and nobody else, Bonnie.” Marceline smirks. “Seriously though, I wanted to tell you about some… personal biz.”

Bonnie puts her chin on her hands. “Go on.”

“Well… the other day, I went and visited my old friend Betty. I’ve told you about her and Simon, right?”

Bonnibel nods.

“Well, they were actually kinda my adopted parents once the war started. My real mom croaked while I was younger, right when the war was getting going. I moved in with Simon and Betty, and they were great. I don’t need to tell you how messed that time was, but they helped me survive.”

Marceline sighs sadly.

“The thing is, after a few years, Simon started going out of it. He was forgetting things. Eventually, he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s or something. By the time the war ended, he was… gone.”

Bonnie puts her hand on top of Marceline’s.

“For the longest time, the only thing I had to remember him by was this old stuffed toy he gave me. Hambo. Glob, I loved that thing. Then, my flipping boyfriend Ash _sold_ him to some tranch named Maja. So now, I’ve got nothing.”

“Did you at least dump the dillweed?”

“Heh, yeah. I kicked him out hard.”

Marceline laughs sadly. Bonnie looks at her, then grabs her shoulders and pulls her into a hug. It takes a moment for Marceline to hug back.

"Thanks for talking to me, Marcy. And for the book."

"It's a gift from Betty. She was really into all that smart stuff back in the day. She still is, I guess."

Bonnie pulls back at smiles at Marceline.

"Well, I can thank both of you."

The two sit quietly on the train tracks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> welcome are comments.


	8. Mall Revival

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it returns

“… and then there was this weirdo who called himself The Farm. Like, what the heck?”

Marceline is listening to Finn talk about his and Jake’s latest adventure. There are four of them in total; Marceline, Finn, Jake, and BMO, all walking down an empty sidewalk to the old mall. BMO is sitting contently on top of Finn’s head.

“Oh, Marceline, did I tell you about Jake’s new breakfast idea?”

Marceline shakes her head. “No, don’t think so. Go ahead and tell me, Jake.”

“Alright,” says Jake. “I call it… bacon pancakes.”

“…ok, cool.”

“You take some bacon…”

“…ok…”

“And you put it in a pancake.”

“… Jake, you are a mad genius.”

Jake laughs loudly. “Yeah, I guess. We just need to get bacon somewhere. And pancake batter.”

“What is bacon?” says BMO.

Finn spends the rest of the walk explaining the concept of bacon to BMO, with some help from Marcy and Jake. When they reach the mall, Bonnie is waiting by the front.

“Hey, guys,” she calls out, waving at them. Marceline waves back.

“Hey, Bonnie. This is Finn and Jake, and, well, you know BMO.

Finn and Jake both say ‘Hello’ at the same time.

“Hello, grandpoop!” yells BMO.

“Hey, BMO,” responds Bonnie.

The five head into the mall.

* * *

 

“So, Bonnie, why’d you want all of us to show up?” asks Marceline.

Bonnie had led the group to the upper level, where they are currently standing around a door marked ‘Employees Only’.

“Well, I just thought, this place could use a bit of a revival.”

Bonnie tries the door. It’s locked, unsurprisingly. Instead, Bonnie just kicks the door in.

“Holy shit,” mutters Marceline. Jake and Finn both gasp in awe. BMO cheers enthusiastically. Finn turns to Marceline and whispers, “Dude, your friend’s cool as heck.”

The others follow Bonnie into the empty room. It’s seemingly a control room, the far wall lined with deactivated monitors. Bonnie opens a metal box on the wall, which contains a number of power switches.

“What do you think? Can we get this place running again?”

The others all look at each other. “Do it,” they all say in unison. Bonnie nods.

“Hold on to your butts,” she says as she flips the switches.

The room suddenly lights up. The monitors on the wall all turn on, displaying security footage from around the mall. Outside, the lights turn on as well, and some generic pop song starts playing in the background. Finn and Jake look at each other and start laughing, running out into the mall to wreak havoc.

“She lives again,” says Bonnie, smiling.

“Give Finn and Jake a few minutes. They’ll find a way to break it again.”

Bonnie giggles. “I have to say, your friends are pretty cool, Marceline. They’re a good fit for BMO.”

“Funny, Finn said the same thing about you. Besides the BMO part.”

There’s a crash outside. Bonnie and Marceline run out to see Finn and Jake wheeling a popcorn machine out to the escalator in the middle of the mall.

“Guys, wait for me!” Marceline starts running to catch up with them as they hop on, grabbing the machine just as it goes over the edge. The popcorn machine careens down the escalator, then flies across the main lobby. The three leap off of the runaway machine before it crashes into a wall, exploding in a flurry of unpopped kernels. Above, Bonnie has a hand over her mouth, stifling a laugh.

Marceline raises her arms. “This is the best fuckin day ever,” she yells.

Bonnie bursts out into laughter.

* * *

 

Bonnie stand behind the counter in her general store, phone held up to her ear.

“… yeah, look, I just need to know when she’s gonna be back in town. Oh, please, I know you’re in contact with her. I have some personal biz we need to talk about. Oh, goddammit-“

Bonnie sighs and puts her head in her hands.

“Yes, please, just tell me when I’ll be able to find her. Yes, _that_ Maja. Do you know anybody else named Maja, you dingus?”

Bonnie is about to hang up when the person on the other end starts speaking again.

“Yes, I can be trusted. She and I have had business deals before. Yes, Bonnibel Bubblegum. Ok… next month? Yeah, okay. Thanks.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> comments, uh, find a way


	9. Hambo Forever

Bonnie spots a weirdly witch-like person walking down the sidewalk in town. She goes to confront the person she had been waiting for.

“Maja. I’ve been looking for you.”

“So I’ve heard, Bubblegum. Whaddya want?”

“A while ago, you bought something off of a guy named Ash, right?.”

“Ah, yeah. I remember that wenis. What a creep. What of it?”

“Do you still have what he sold you?”

“…nope. Sorry, princess.” Maja cackles evilly.

“I know when you’re lying, Maja. You still have it, don’t you.”

“Ah, well, you’re in luck. Evidently, you’re the only person who wants to buy an old teddy bear. But I ain’t gonna give it to a tranch like you so easily.”

“Come on, Maja. Haven’t I been your best customer?”

Maja shrugs. “You’ve made me a good buck. Doesn’t mean I give a ham.”

“I’ll lift the ban I placed on you entering my store.”

“… tempting. But no.”

“Glob, you are such a child. 25% off all products until I friggin die. Does that make you happy?”

Maja thinks it over for a second.

* * *

 

princessbubblegum – Hey, Marceline. Meet me at the mall. Bring some sleepover stuff.

vampirequeen – um, sure. mind telling me why

princessbubblegum – I just wanted to hang out with my friend?

vampirequeen – is that an answer or a question

princessbubblegum – Just get down here.

Marceline grabs a few pillows and blankets. It’s late afternoon when she makes her way through town to the abandoned mall. She finds Bonnie sitting by the fountain in the lobby.

“So, Bon, you just wanted to hang out?”

“You have a problem with that?”

“No, no. I like hanging out with you. It just seemed kinda out of nowhere, you know?”

“Well… I _do_ have something to show you. But I did want to hang out.”

“Ok…”

Bonnie opens her bag and pulls out a tattered, old, pink stuffed animal with long arms. Marceline gasps, and rushes forward to grab him. She gives the doll a once-over, noting the piece of differently-colored fabric that she had to sew on herself to fix his face, and the button she had stolen from one of Simon’s old shirts for his eye. It’s the same Hambo, alright.

Marceline hugs the doll tightly. Her eyes start to water.

“Bonnie… where’d you find him?”

“Well, as it turns out, I’ve had some business dealings with Maja in the past. So I tracked her down and made a deal.”

“Glob, I could kiss you right now.”

Bonnie blushes. She really, _really_ wants Marceline to do that right now. She can’t tell that Marceline is thinking the same thing.

Instead, Marceline pulls Bonnie into a group hug with her and Hambo.

“Thank you, Bonnie. I mean it.”

Bonnie smiles into Marceline’s shoulder. Marceline cries into Bonnie’s. Hambo is squished between them.

* * *

 

“Play us a song.”

Bonnie is sitting on top of a pillow in the mall lobby, Hambo in her lap. Marceline is sitting on the edge of the fountain.

“Alright.” Marceline picks up her bass. She takes a deep breath.

_I don’t know what to do without you_

_I don’t know where to put my hands_

_I’ve been trying to lay my head down_

_But I’m writing this at 3 am_

Marceline grabs Bonnie by the hands and pulls her to her feet. “Come on, let’s dance!” she says.

_I don’t need the world to see_

_That I’ve been the best I can be, but_

_I don’t think I can stand to be_

_Where you don’t see me_

They dance all night long.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are welcome


	10. Concert

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the time has come

Marceline looks over at Bonnie, who is still asleep on the mall floor. It’s early morning, and a tiny amount of light is coming in through the skylight above them. Marceline rubs her eyes with one hand, the other holding Hambo tightly. She smiles brightly at Bonnie.

And then she realizes it: she’s totally in love with her.

Marceline crawls over to where Bonnie is sleeping and lightly presses a kiss to her forehead. Then, she stands up, Hambo still in hand, and wanders off to explore the mall.

* * *

 

Marceline turns a corner and walks down past the shuttered stores, thinking. _I want to do something for her,_ she thinks. _But what?_ She runs a few ideas through her head.

After about a minute, it hits her. _A concert. I’ll throw a concert for her._ It’s perfect. She starts planning in her head- she could use the fountain like a stage, set up some chairs, get some friends…

“Yo, Marcy!” Bonnie yells from the end of the corridor. She has one of the blankets draped over her shoulders and dragging behind her like some sort of cape. Marceline smiles and jogs back down the hall to her.

“I thought you’d ditched me for a second, ya dingus.”

“Nope, just taking a walk. Come with me?”

Bonnie nods enthusiastically and starts following Marceline down the corridor. She points out the old pyrotechnics store, which somehow was never closed down, and the old Squeeze-E-Mart. “I spent at least 20% of my time working here in that place,” she says.

“I would have, too,” says Marceline. “Nothin’ like a late-night Squeeze-E-Mart run.”

* * *

 

A few days later, Marceline is walking through the woods with Finn, Jake, and BMO. Finn is swinging around a stick he picked up like a sword.

“I wish I could be, like, a magic dog,” says Jake. “I could shapeshift into anything. Like… a bigger dog.”

“If you could shapeshift into anything, wouldn’t you want to be more than just a bigger version of what you already are?” asks Finn. “I’d turn into, like, a dinosaur or a giant sword or something.”

“What would you do, Marceline?” asks Jake.

“Hm? Oh, I dunno. Maybe a big bat monster, or a giant demon or something.”

Finn and Jake both nod in approval.

“How about you, BMO?” asks Marceline. BMO thinks it over for a second.

“I would turn into a magical tiger!”

Jake, Finn, and Marceline all nod in approval.

They walk quietly for a little while after that, with Jake randomly interjecting useful anecdotes (“Sometimes it’s just easier to wear a hat,” he says, something which Marceline would willfully live by). After a little while, Marcy speaks up.

“Hey, guys? Can I ask you a favor?”

Finn and Jake both nodded.

“I’m going to try and have a concert at the mall. Nothing big, but I’d like you to get a few people to show up.”

Finn and Jake looked at each other. “We’re on it, Marceline,” said Jake.

* * *

 

vampirequeen- hey bon bon

princessbubblegum – Hey, Marcy!

vampirequeen – i got a surprise for you at the mall

princessbubblegum – Should I be scared?

vampirequeen – maybe hehehehe

Bonnie smiles and pockets her phone, and starts the journey to the old mall. As she walks down the old, decrepit sidewalk in town, she wonders, _what could she possibly have planned?_ Marceline is clearly up to something. Bonnie’s kinda excited to see what it is. To be honest, she’s just excited to see Marcy again.

And that’s when she realizes it: she’s totally in love with her.

Bonnie suddenly realizes that she’s standing right outside the mall. She nervously approaches the door, walking into the mall’s lobby. Bonnie instantly knows something’s up; the area in front of the fountain has a bunch of collapsible chairs set up, with a number of people sitting in them. She recognizes Finn, Jake and BMO, but there’s a few others; a girl wearing a weird tree branch headband, a kid wearing a pink sweater, a girl with rainbow hair, a guy that kinda looks like Jake, and a few others.

Finn notices Bonnie walk in, and excitedly waves her over to one of the front seats.

“Hey, Bonnibel!”

“Hi, Finn. The hay is going on here?”

“We’re having a concert. Marceline’s idea.”

Bonnie sits down as Marceline jogs down the escalator to the lobby, holding her bass, and stands on the fountain.

“Hello, everybody!” she yells. There’s a quiet round of applause. Finn, Jake, and BMO start whooping like lunatics.

“So, as you know, we’re having a bit of a concert here. Just sit back and have some fun.”

She looks right at Bonnie. “And, um, this first song is for my friend Bonnie.”

Marceline closes her eyes and takes a deep breath.

_Slow dance with you_

_I just wanna slow dance with you_

_I know all the other boys are tough and smooth_

_And I got the blues, I wanna_

_Slow dance with you_

Marceline opens her eyes and smiles at Bonnie.

_I wanna slow dance with you_

_I just wanna slow dance with you_

_Why don’t you take the chance I’ve got_

_The moves I wanna prove, I wanna_

_Slow dance with you_

* * *

 

Marceline plays a few more songs. Everybody absolutely loves it. After she finishes the last song, Marcy yells out, “Thank you everybody!” and the tiny crowd goes wild.

Finn and Jake both congratulate Marcy on the show, as everybody starts to clear out. They take the collapsible chairs with them. Soon, it’s only Bonnie and Marceline left. They sit down at the stop of the escalator.

“Marcy, dude, that was awesome. You’re a great musician.”

“Aww, thanks, Bonnie. I hoped you’d like it. I just, y’know, wanted to thank you for getting Hambo back. It means a lot to me.”

“Hey, of course. I’d do anything for you at this point.”

"Oh, and, before I forget, I wanted to give you this." Marceline pulls out a black band t-shirt and hands it to Bonnie. "Got it at my first concert, before the war." Bonnie smiles nervously and pulls the shirt on.

"How do I look?"

Marceline gives her a thumbs-up. "Pretty damn cool, Bonnie." She chuckles and rubs her head. Bonnie looks over at her brightly, and decides to just go for it.

She cups Marceline’s face and kisses her.

They sit there for a second, before Bonnie pulls away, blushing. She nervously waits for Marceline’s reaction.

Marcy blushes and smiles.

“Did that just happen?” she asks.

Bonnie nods. “I think so.” She starts giggling, and so does Marcy.

“I think I’m gonna kiss you again.”

Before Bonnie can respond, Marceline grabs her by the collar and kisses her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> slow dance with you
> 
> comments are welcome


End file.
